The U.S. President Donald Trump caused confusion on Monday 5 October 2026 when he mistakenly confused Brazil with India when commenting about Brazil's presidential election.
In a post on his Truth Social account, Trump claimed that 125 million people had voted in the “first round of India’s Presidential Election.” He used the figure to compare the supposed Indian election to the US voting system and criticised the time taken to count votes in American cities.
The post came just a day after Brazil held the first round of its presidential election on Sunday, October 4. In total, 125 million Brazilians cast ballots, so Trump’s number is roughly in keeping with Brazil’s actual turnout.
Brazil held the election, Not India
Brazil’s presidential elections saw both the incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, fight for the presidency.
Neither candidate secured the majority needed to win the presidency in the first round. Brazil is now heading for a runoff election on October 25. Reports said Flávio Bolsonaro was ahead of Lula in the first round but not enough votes to avoid a second round.
The election attracted considerable international attention, mainly because of the political rivalry between the Bolsonaro family and Lula.
India Does Not Have A Direct Presidential Election
Trump's reference to India's Presidential Election was incorrect not only because the election was taking place in Brazil, but because India’s President is not directly elected by the country’s general population.
The President in India is elected by an electoral college consisting of elected members of Parliament and elected members of the legislative assemblies of the states and some Union Territories.
The most recent presidential election was held in July 2022, when Droupadi Murmu was elected as India's 15th President. 4796 electors were eligible to vote, according to the Election Commission figures published by the Press Information Bureau, including 771 MPs and 4,025 MLAs.
Trump Was Referring to Brazil's 125 Million Voters
Still, although it was wrong to identify the country, the figure in Trump's post seems to have been drawn from Brazil's election.
About 125 million people voted in Brazil's October 4 election according to election reports. Brazil has nearly 159 million registered voters, and turnout is significantly higher than the number of votes that would be associated with India's presidential election system.
The mistake quickly attracted attention because Trump's post linked the Brazilian election turnout to a fictional direct presidential election in India.
Why the Post Drew Attention
The error is remarkable because Trump has been closely following political developments in Brazil. Earlier, on October 1 he said he was watching Brazil's election “very closely” and described the country and its election as important.
The latest post therefore led to a peculiar situation between two major democracies. Brazil was doing presidential elections directly, but India uses an indirect electoral vote to elect its President.
